Q: Our Company is dealing in heavy equipment. Recently one of our engineers, who is not involved in the lifting operations, suffered severe back pain while pushing a heavy machinery. He had to be admitted to hospital. Doctors have advised immediate operation for severe disc prolapse. We have a medical insurance coverage with CCHI conditions. The insurance company has refused to bear the cost, saying it is not work related. How can we recover this claim? A: Most of the medical insurance policies issued in the Kingdom exclude work-related sickness and/or injuries. In your case, the prima facie evidence suggests that it is purely work-related injury. I would like to suggest you to lodge a claim with GOSI as soon as possible. Work-related injuries are picked by GOSI, as you are a regular contributor to it. GOSI has been good in paying their portion of claim. If your current claim is rejected by GOSI with proper justification that it is not work-related, then your case becomes stronger with insurance company. In this situation, there are possibilities that the worker may be having some chronic back conditions due to other reasons, which may have resulted in this situation. A detailed medical report will help. Q: I read you column regularly, which is highly informative especially to a newcomer like me to the Insurance field. I have joined a multinational insurance company. My work is basically to support our sales personnel and little field job. I am interested to acquire more technical knowledge in insurance. In my current job I have very little exposure to what is happening in the over all Insurance field. Currently, we have vacancy in our Underwriting Department. How can I get the full exposure to insurance and be able to get right qualifications? A: Looking into the current insurance scenario in Saudi Arabia, I will suggest you to take up the job in your underwriting department, provided the offer in terms of money is similar or better than your current job. This will give you the right technical exposure to a variety of insurance areas and help you in your acquisition of Technical Insurance Qualifications. During initial period of our insurance careers, it is better to get an exposure to different areas of insurance like sales, underwriting, accounts and claims. The current Saudi Arabian insurance market offers good opportunities to people with technical skills in insurance. You may seek the advice of your management about to the right qualification for your progress. * Shujaath Ahmed Khan, an MBA, General Manager, Creative Associates is also a consultant and an expert in Insurance, Investments and Real Estate. He can be contacted at [email protected], website-www.creativeassociates.blogspot.com __
